League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Alameda County, CA November 4, 2014 Election
	Measure Z Fund police, fire and violence prevention services City of Oakland Parcel Tax & Parking Tax Surcharge - 2/3 Approval Required Pass: 75556 / 77.49% Yes votes ...... 21946 / 22.51% No votes See Also: Index of all Measures

Arguments For Measure Z	Arguments Against Measure Z
Measure Z does not increase tax rates. Instead, Measure Z simply continues an existing measure to improve public safety in Oakland by focusing on reducing violent crime and supporting our at-risk youth with proven community programs. Dozens of Oakland community organizations, working in collaboration with City leaders, spent the past year developing a prudent public safety measure that will focus on reduction of violent crime through additional police officers and research based community programs for at-risk youth. Measure Z is the result of their careful work. Without increasing taxes, Measure Z will fund critically important public safety investments, including: Additional Oakland police officers who will focus on reducing shootings, violent crime, robberies, and homicides, and increase support for the Ceasefire model and community policing in every neighborhood in Oakland. * Proven community programs that support our at-risk youth and reduce crime; these include job training, high school graduation assistance, violence intervention strategies, victim support and more. The specific programs Measure Z will fund have reduced crimes by 83 percent where they have been tried before in Oakland. Additional emergency response and firefighting capability to improve 9-1-1 response times. Measure Z requires important safeguards to ensure these funds are spent responsibly: public financial audits and a Citizens Oversight Commission composed of residents and subject-area experts with authority to review how funds are spent and the ability to hold City Council publicly accountable. Measure Z is a responsible plan that extends a current measure, it does not increase taxes. If Measure Z does not pass, we risk losing needed funding for dozens of police officers, proven youth programs and emergency response providers. Join a broad coalition of Oakland businesses, neighbors, community groups, and elected leaders. Increase public safety without increasing our taxes. Vote YES on Measure Z. http://www.aSaferOakland.com s/ Barbara Leslie President and CEO, Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce s/ Richard L. Word Former Oakland Police Chief s/ Katherine Gavzy President, League of Women Voters of Oakland s/ David Kakishiba President , Board of Education . Oakland Unified School District Rebuttal to Arguments For Measure Z is not a continuation of Measure Y. Read it closely. It doesn't promise to add a single additional police officer; it doesn't give us one community policing officer for each beat, and there are no limits on the types of programs that the money can be spent on. The original Measure Y was $88; Measure Z starts off at $99, and increases with inflation. Measure Z will not make us safer. The City gets this tax money even if police staffing goes down. Proponents claim this tax will fund specific programs that have reduced crime. But in fact, FBI statistics show that crime has gone up in the 10 years since Measure Y, not down. The proponents are making their numbers up, just like City leaders who made up the "100 Blocks" program that turned out not to exist. No specific improvements to firefighting or 911 response times are even referenced in the measure. Measure Y promised oversight too - and look what happened. No audits were performed until the City lost a lawsuit. The City spent $200 million over the 10 years Measure Y was in effect, and what do we have to show for it? Fewer officers and higher crime. The money never bought us the promised staffing; rejecting this tax will not impact the number of officers or crime. Tell the City to go back to the drawing board and come back with a measure that will give us guaranteed improvements in public safety. Vote NO! s/ Marleen L. Sacks Member, Beat 22x Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council s/ Charles Pine Member Oakland Residents for Peaceful Neighborhoods s/ Colleen Brown Former Vice-Chair Community Policing Advisory Board (CPAB) s/ Marcus Johnson Community Policing Advisory Board, Member s/ Frank Castro Community Policing Advisory Board Neighborhood Watch Steering Committee	Don't be fooled. This new $100 per parcel tax does not fund a single additional police officer and will do nothing to improve public safety. This measure is yet another blank check to irresponsible and dishonest City leaders. In 2004 Oakland officials put the original Measure Y on the ballot, promising us 63 additional police officers for 10 years, one community policing officer per beat, meaningful violence prevention programs, accountability and improved public safety. They lied. We now have dozens of officers FEWER than what we had then, and crime has soared! We got the promised police staffing for less than six months. The City wasted millions recruiting new officers , only to lay them all off less than a year later. The City never conducted the required financial audits until it was sued. The violence prevention programs have little accountability and have not prevented or reduced crime, which is significantly higher now than in 2004. Read the measure closely - it is more deceptive and has less accountability than the original. It does not guarantee a single additional officer. It allows the City to collect the tax even if police staffing goes down! The measure eliminates the previously required dedicated community police officers, and eliminates any restrictions on what type of programs the money can be spent on. We never got the promised additional officers under the original Measure Y, so don't worry about losing them if this tax is rejected. This new tax, which will also be imposed on renters, will do nothing to force Oakland to staff police at necessary levels. True supporters of meaningful improvement to public safety in Oakland will reject this tax and tell Oakland to come back with a new measure that actually guarantees increased police staffing, and ensures fiscal responsibility. Vote NO! s/ Marleen L. Sacks Member, Beat 22x Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council s/ Charles Pine Member Oakland Residents for Peaceful Neighborhoods s/ Frank J. Castro Community Policing Advisory Board Neighborhood Watch Steering Committee Rebuttal to Arguments Against Don't be deceived by the inaccurate statements of the few Measure Z opponents. Measure Z is not a new tax. It will not raise current tax rates. Measure Z offers a real opportunity to take a stand against crime without increasing taxes. The League of Women Voters of Oakland carefully studied this measure and offered its strong endorsement because they believe that Measure Z is a critical and necessary component of Oakland's crime-fighting efforts. Fact: Over the past ten years, the City has learned many lessons about what does and doesn't work to decrease crime. Measure Z concentrates on reducing violent crime; such as homicides, shootings, and robberies. Measure Z also focuses on at-risk youth and the reentry population with community policing programs and strategies that have been proven to reduce recidivism and new crimes. Fact: Measure Z will fund at least 50 police officers to focus specifically on reducing violent crime. Measure Z also requires a minimum staffing level of police officers well above recent levels. Fact: Measure Z requires a strong citizens oversight commission of independent, expert residents with increased authority to review the use and efficacy of Measure Z funds. Fact: Crime is down in Oakland, but we have a long way to go. If we lose Measure Z, we will go backwards - not forward. Join the League of Women Voters of Oakland, community groups, elected leaders, neighbors, and Oakland businesses. Increase public safety without increasing our taxes. Vote YES on Measure Z. http://www.aSaferOakland.com s/ Nancy E. O'Malley District Attorney s/ J. Alfred Smith, Jr. Senior Pastor, Allen Temple Baptist Church s/ Keith Carson President, Alameda County Board of Supervisors s/ Robert L. Jackson Bishop Bob Jackson, Acts Full Gospel Church